A larger screen, hiding buttons and cameras under glass, narrower frames, different arrangement of lenses on the back. This is what the main changes within the iPhone line have been over the last two decades. This is not an accusation, but facts – after the smartphone revolution began, In the following years, Apple went into the mode of improving individual solutionsinstead of turning everything upside down. They were ridiculed for this many times, but the numbers speak for themselves – this strategy worked and still works perfectly. What's more, the slow pursuit of perfection last year resulted in phenomenal sales results that allowed Apple (for the first time in 14 years) to rank first place in the world. Overtaking Samsung in terms of the number of units sold is no small feat, and it was achieved not by changing the paradigm of designing new devices, but by consistency and slowly improving subsequent versions.
The iPhone 17, 17 Pro, and 17 Pro Max, as well as the iPhone Air, are not perfect by any means. But they came very close to this ideal, while offering stability, efficiency and fluidity that cannot be found in the competition. At a time when it was the highest price on the market, one could have had doubts about its “profitability”. But today, in the reality in which they remained Manufacturers have long caught up with Apple when it comes to pricing (and sometimes even chased them away), the matter is much simpler. The fact that the latest iPhones turned out to be such big sales hits is not a coincidence. Consumers, comparing the capabilities of devices, their durability and average support period, are increasingly choosing iOS, which guarantees the smooth and correct operation of all the most important applications much more confidently than in the case of the clearly more diversified (and therefore more difficult to optimize) market of Android smartphones.
Last year's series was a very important point in Apple's history, not only because of sales, but also because it initiated a new design direction, leading us to a real revolution. The ultra-thin and light iPhone Air is an important engineering step on this path. Because it shows that technicians from Cupertino have finally developed solutions and technologies that allow them to achieve extreme miniaturization, while retaining the vast majority of the capabilities associated with the traditional iPhone. This, in turn, is something Apple desperately needs to be able to create something they have apparently been preparing for for several years. That is, for your first foldable smartphone.
The foldable smartphone market is spreading its wings
The idea of a “foldable”, a portable device that can be closed and opened on hinges, is not new – in the early 21st century, flip phones were at the peak of their popularity. Over time, however, they gave way to a simpler design. A few years ago, engineers and designers from the largest manufacturers decided it was a good time to return to the idea, obviously significantly improving it along the way. This time, new foldable phones were intended to meet a need that had arisen quite recently. On classic, relatively small screens – usually between 6 and 7 inches – the amount of information that can be displayed is quite limited. There are two ways to solve this problem – either by enlarging a single screen or adding a second one. When we decide on the former, we simply get a tablet. A useful device, but less convenient and not necessarily possible to take in your pocket. This is the second one became the design basis for the new generation of foldable devices.
The technology is not perfect yet, but doubling the working space while maintaining the standard dimensions of the device is a really useful thing… although still niche. Mainly due to the very high price of this type of devices. However, there are people willing, and sales results – even if they are not impressive – are characterized by very high growth dynamics. In Europe alone, it was observed in 2025. increase in sales of foldable smartphones by as much as 37%. . And even if overall it is only 2%. market, and global sales of such devices range around 20-30 million units per year, the prospects are very promising.
According to IDC forecasts, by 2028 this number will increase globally to approximately 45 million piecesand in the above-mentioned Europe, the category's market share will increase up to 10%. And it will only grow. They are purchased primarily by enthusiasts of new technologies who are willing to spend more money on their devices and gadgets than the average user… but as development progresses, this technology will become cheaper. And thus become more and more attractive also to ordinary customers, ready to combine a smartphone and a tablet into one. Apple is aware of this, and although all of their closest competitors have been present on this market for several years, 2026 seems to be a good time to implement this type of solutions. The base of interested parties is already large enough to make it worthwhile to invest in it… and production costs have dropped so much that the final product is no longer valued only at amounts above PLN 10,000.
What will the iPhone Fold be like?
In this slowly more and more favorable market atmosphere, we expect it to debut soon iPhone Fold – the first foldable smartphone with the Apple logo. The traditional September conference, at which the Cupertino giant announces new mobile devices every year, will, of course, be devoted mainly to the iPhone 18, but just like last year – there will also be one final surprise. However, while the mentioned iPhone Air was “the same as always, only narrower”, the iPhone Fold is to completely change the philosophy that Apple follows when designing devices.
Designs of the foldable smartphone began to slowly leak out last year, but with the beginning of 2026, more and more details about the specifications themselves are being released online. Of course, as always in the case of leaks, they should be approached with caution and some skepticism, but the very fact of such a large volume of news (usually coming from factories or external partners working on accessories) gives hope that this time there is actually something to it. According to the latest reports from Jeff Pu — a well-known industry analyst specializing in Apple topics — in the case of the new iPhone line, we can expect the following parameters:
| iPhone 18 Pro | iPhone 18 Pro Max | iPhone Fold | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Premiere |
September 26, 2026 |
September 26, 2026 |
September 26, 2026 |
| Screen |
6.3 inches |
6.9 inches |
7.8 inches (unfolded) and 5.3 inches (folded) |
| Processor |
A20 Pro, N2 |
A20 Pro, N2 |
A20 Pro, N2 |
| RAM |
12 GB |
12 GB |
12 GB |
| Main camera |
Triple 48MP |
Triple 48MP |
Dual 48MP |
| Selfie camera |
Single 18MP |
Single 18MP |
Dual 18MP |
| Unlocking |
Face ID |
Face ID |
Touch ID |
| Housing materials |
Aluminum |
Aluminum |
Aluminum + Titanium |
A large foldable screen, the return of the forgotten Touch ID (Face ID, from a technical point of view, will be difficult for Apple to implement in a foldable device), much weaker cameras… but at the same time the same power as the top variants, and what's more titanium reinforcements, crucial for the durability of places where the device bends. This is a brief description of this year's iPhone Fold, which is expected to introduce the biggest revolution in design.
iPhone Fold – what will it look like?
Having two screens, of course, forces a completely different approach to the location and profiling of buttons, cameras, and internal components. The latter is also crucial for the thickness of the device – it is not an art to connect two screens, but in a way that would seem clumsy. However, the previously mentioned iPhone Air was an important lesson for Apple… which seems to have been learned conscientiously. According to reports, after submission iPhone Fold would be only 0.96 cm. This is only slightly larger than regular iPhones, which are usually about 0.79 cm. The difference should not be too noticeable, both when carrying the phone in your pocket and when holding it in your hand.
Of course, at this stage we rely only on speculations… although additionally supported by the competitors' achievements in this field to date. Currently, the most popular models in this category – the Samsung Galaxy Fold series and its newest representative Z Fold 7 – have very similar sizes. And when it comes to ergonomics, its users rarely make any comments. In the case of the iPhone Fold, we will most likely see a repeat of the entertainment, though Apple's engineers and designers face a big challenge — they have to create a device that not only fits well in the hand, but also its appearance will perfectly and visually harmonize with the manufacturer's other products.
A completely different construction of the housing, changing the vertical proportions of the screen in favor of one closer to a square and, obviously, a slightly higher weight, may in practice result in a slightly less handy device. And this is something that Apple has been afraid of since 2007, when they made the slim and light design one of their main sales advantages.
A slightly better idea of what we can expect – they give us, of course, for now unofficial renders of the deviceprepared on the basis of leaked sketches and CAD files. The Business Insider editorial team also prepared several of them themselves, trying to take into account the specificity of the sketches themselves, previous leaks, and the product characteristics typical of Apple.
Will these predictions, and thus the leaks so far, actually be confirmed? The closer we get to the September conference, the more rumors we will probably hear, but at the same time we must remember that, especially in the case of Apple – the only confirmation you can believe in is the one that comes from the stage in Cupertino. A lot can change over the course of these few months, but if at least some of it turns out to be true, it will be the first Apple conference in a long time that can actually be called a breakthrough. “Amazing”, often heard from the stage in the past, now sounds a bit like pastiche, but if Tim Cook had uttered this word while holding the iPhone Fold in his hand and announcing the biggest product change in nearly two decades – this time we could actually be talking about the beginning of a new smartphone era.
